The present invention relates to a finishing/polishing apparatus comprising an abrasive implement for gross reduction and shaping, and a felt, suede, foam or other type polishing element for polishing. A method of using the apparatus is also provided.
Dental restoratives exhibit physical and chemical characteristics which make them suitable for use in filling, repairing or replacing teeth. Restorative materials should possess properties that closely match natural teeth with respect to structural properties such as cohesive strength, coefficient of thermal expansion and wearability. Also, aesthetic considerations such as color stability, refractive index, plaque repellency, polishability and opacity are important factors in determining whether a material is suitable for use as a dental restorative. Numerous organic compositions are used in various mixtures and proportions for use as dental composites or restoratives. These compositions usually include some type of resin, which may either be preblended or mixed by the practitioner in the office, together with other materials such as pigments, catalysts, handling agents and opacifiers. For restorative use, it is generally necessary to employ materials which are "filled", that is, to which have been added amounts of inorganic, or in some cases, organic particulate material.
Dental composite and restorative materials have good forming characteristics so that they can be shaped to fit a cavity area or molded into place in order to repair chipped or damaged teeth. Furthermore, such restorative compositions must preferably be filled with inorganic materials in order to achieve satisfactory hardness and durability during service.
The finishing and polishing of the composite is an important part of providing an aesthetically pleasing restorative.
Most prior art polishing discs used for finishing composite materials have a metal fastener in the center which is used for attaching the disc to a shaft adapted to be used in a hand held polisher. If the practitioner is not careful, the metal fastener could come in contact with and mar the composite material.
Prior art discs which are now used for shaping composites have a tendency to preferentially wear away the composite material and pluck the more rigid filler particles from the composite surface during the polishing procedure. Some such prior art discs are so abrasive that they tend to flatten natural contours of the tooth and even remove natural tooth structure when finishing or polishing the restorative material.
Therefore, the present art method for working restorative composites involves tedious working steps that use three or four grades of abrasive discs, rubber wheels and finally one or two different polishing pastes.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties of the prior art apparatus and methods.